Thursday, 10 September 2015

Borders Railway Re-opens

Trains have returned to the Scottish
Borders after 46 years with the opening of the longest new domestic
railway built in Britain for over a century.The Queen has officially opened the
new Borders-to-Edinburgh railway line on the day she became Britain's
longest-serving monarch.She and the Duke of Edinburgh were accompanied by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on a steam train journey along the £294m line.

The new Borders Railway runs 31 miles between Tweedbank and Edinburgh and was built on the trackbed of the old Waverley line that ran between Carlisle and Edinburgh.

Hundreds of people queued up at Tweedbank station on Sunday morning the first day of normal service, to be the first passengers on board.Some arrived at 05:00 to secure their place in the line, and had travelled from as far south as Kent.The old Waverley Line through the region shut in 1969.The first train from platform one on the Borders Rail line for more
than 46 years was due to leave Tweedbank at 08:45 but hundreds had been
queuing for hours before - some as early as 05:00.Some had travelled from as far as Kent to share in a special piece of railway history. On board, champagne corks popped and cheers went up as the train pulled out to head up the 30 miles of track.

Hundreds
more people gathered to wave and cheer as the train filled up at the
eight stations on its route before its final stop an hour later in
Edinburgh Waverley.David Spaven, author of a book about the route, described the opening
as the "astonishing achievement" of a project which had been dismissed
by many.

Services will run every half-hour during the day on weekdays and take under an hour to travel the full length of the line.Special passengers with golden tickets
were able to travel the route on Saturday whilst the Queen carried out the official opening on Wednesday 9th September - the day she became Britain's
longest serving monarch.

The Scottish government has said it believed the line can boost local economies in Midlothian and the Scottish Borders.Infrastructure
Secretary Keith Brown said it was a chance to access "new work,
learning and social opportunities, as well as new business and industry
links"."The Borders Railway has become a symbol of this golden
age for Scotland's railways, and it will be the vehicle for a new
prosperity for the communities on the route," he said.Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said the start of services was a "truly historic moment" for Scotland.It is hoped one million passengers a year will be using the railway within five years of it opening.Mr
Spaven said it was a historic day as Galashiels and Hawick would lose
their "unwanted status" of being further from the rail network than any
other towns of their size in Britain."Experience from other
Scottish rail re-openings - and the special opportunities for tourist
and leisure traffic on this route - suggest that the trains will be very
popular and encourage a significant shift from road to rail," he said.He
added that with significant numbers of people in the Borders not owning
a car it could provide a "step-change in terms of social inclusion".He said it could see more businesses and people move to the Borders and Midlothian as well as enhancing tourism prospects.Mr Spaven concluded it would "partially put right one of the great wrongs of the old model of London-based transport policy".The
Campaign For Borders Rail has welcomed the opening as "one of the
greatest achievements of grassroots rail campaigning in British
history".However, it has raised concerns about how the network would cope with growing demand.Simon
Walton, chairman of the group, said the "whole concept of
future-proofing" was something they felt had not been addressed
adequately.Its main concern is the reduction of the length of
double track on the line, which it said did not leave a "great margin
for error" in maintaining the scheduled service.Travel the route between Tweedbank and Edinburgh in one minute via a video on the BBC website. here

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